Eddie Howe ‘so pleased’ with Newcastle United hero who ‘stepped-up’ in Champions League win v PSG

Newcastle’s first Champions League home match in over 20 years proved to be one to remember as goals from Miguel Almiron, Dan Burn, Sean Longstaff and Fabian Schar was the hosts claim a convincing win.

For Lascelles, it marked a remarkable rise from playing the likes of Burton Albion and Rotherham in the Championship to leading The Magpies out on the biggest stage in club football.

But it hasn’t been easy for the centre-back with his gametime limited since Eddie Howe’s arrival as manager. The skipper faded into the background while continuing to play an important role behind the scenes.

On Wednesday night, he took centre stage once again and made it three wins in a row since his return to the side.

To lead Newcastle out on such a historic night was a fitting reward for the defender, who earned his captaincy at Newcastle at just 22 by standing up for the club and holding more experienced players to account during a relegation season back in 2016.

And Howe couldn’t hide his delight for the almost poetic nature of Lascelles’ return to the limelight.

“I’m so pleased for Jamaal,” he told The Gazette. “I said countless times last season about how good his attitude was and how well he’d trained and how good he’d been for the group.

“Ultimately, he was desperate to show how good he was on the pitch and the biggest compliment I can pay him is that he’s stepped in and stepped up to the challenge and performed really, really well in the last few games.”

Newcastle have progressed significantly while Lascelles has mostly remained on the sidelines. But the 29-year-old has never let Howe down when needed and quietly progressed his game behind the scenes.

“He has had to train so well to keep developing his game when he wasn’t playing,” Howe explained. “My inner belief was always that he would improve with the team even though he wasn’t in the starting 11.

“His game is in a really good place and he proved that [against PSG] it was a real testament to his attitude and his character.”